I too enjoy throttlin' up, as opposed to walking around with a remote in my hand. Have a remote for the tv, a remote for the dvr, a remote for the ac, another for the stereo, got remote start for the Dodge, a remote for the ceiling fan... Wish I could buy a tv with a dial. Of course, it would have 300 numerals on it and look something the size of the wheel-of -fortune wheel, but at least I'd get more cardio.
Who doesn't like the sure grip of a ZW or Z4000, or the warm glow of an LW?
All I've got space for is the old traditional 4 X 8 layout, so I run conventional as I just don't see the need for anything more elaborate. Just watching 'em go 'round and 'round is enough, I'm easily amused.
Speaking of conventional, several months ago I got a really good deal on a post-war 2018, and you know I'm having more fun with that old engine than I've had with the new stuff in a long time. The E-unit buzz, the gear whine, the WHOOSH as it goes past, sheer nostalgia.
Some folks find the E-unit buzz annoying. I just can't understand why. To me it's like the wind-up before the pitch, or the double drum roll before a British band begins a march, or the "Prussian Lock" before a German band starts a march. It's all part of the same great package.
You can have it both ways! I run my standard gauge trains with "Command Control". I use a 95 rheostat screwed to a small block of wood tethered back to a type K transformer set at 24 volts. That's the original "walk around throttle"!
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Penny Trains You can have it both ways! I run my standard gauge trains with "Command Control". I use a 95 rheostat screwed to a small block of wood tethered back to a type K transformer set at 24 volts. That's the original "walk around throttle"! Becky
LOL Don't forget you have directional control with the 95 too. Screw a couple of sound activation buttons to that block of wood and you'd have Conventional Legacy.
Bruce
Another aspect of running conventional that keeps me in the fold is simply using a throttle lever as in the real deal as well as the Art Deco stylings of my vintage transformers...another is the aspect of running vintage trains with vintage transformers...another is cost. When pulling a heaving consist around a curve in conventional I have to throttle up and then ease back..I never understood why automated speed control was so popular...I guess I am a iconoclast and \ or a Luddite. Of course it's all subjective.....
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
Plate Rail Penny Trains You can have it both ways! I run my standard gauge trains with "Command Control". I use a 95 rheostat screwed to a small block of wood tethered back to a type K transformer set at 24 volts. That's the original "walk around throttle"! Becky LOL Don't forget you have directional control with the 95 too. Screw a couple of sound activation buttons to that block of wood and you'd have Conventional Legacy. Bruce
Conventional-classical-post-modern-modenism eh?
The only sounds I need are the roar of the rails and the satsifyingly ominous hums of those 1920's era transformers! I have a 60 watt type A, a 100 watt type T and a 150 watt type K humming away in the standard gauge powerhouse and stinking up the joint with ozone. Over in the room next door a type R does most of the work. It has those wonderful red and green bulbs adding to their art deco streamlinedness, but it doesn't scare you a bit the way the early transformers do! Somehow it's just more fun if there's a risk of getting mildly zapped!
I only run conventional. Most my stuff is post war and the newer stuff is conventional. I don't have anything with command control. I have never seen one even run up close. Live in the sticks or maybe just don't care. I see those new ones running on videos and they sure look neat. I think the think I would like the most about command is the slow speed operation. I have one incline on the layout so even conventional is easy to run.
I plan on looking into the legacy lite system to get my feet wet. But for now I get a great satisfaction in watching my little engineers ages 2 to 9 get the hang of the ZW, LW, & CW-80 controls. Like Fife said, plenty of remotes in my life. There something about hands on that makes it cool.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
I'm having similar thoughts myself. We set up a temperorary 9' by 18' layout in the KATY museum the 2nd Saturday September, and again last Saturday. Both layouts had passing sidings. Both locomotives would stop in about the same place on the layout.
The conventional equipment I brought ran well. My Texas Special passenger train (Legacy) and my CP SD70MAC (TMCC) were acting up. The headlights were flickering, and they would either stop for no reason, or not respond to the CAB2. Cleaning the track did not make any difference. Strangely enough, running the CP backwards seemed to solve the issue
My next step is to clean the wheels and run them on a simple loop. I'm figuring it is either a dirt issue or a signal issue.
Cleaning the wheels is a VERY good idea. My Lionel Jersey Transit engine started acting wacky several months ago after being a top-notch runner. The track was fine, so I looked at the wheels. WOW! I had no idea they'd gunk up like that! Cleaned them thoroughly and afterwards, no problems.
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